Pages

Tuesday, 26 June 2012

My first nomination

Well, imagine my surprise when I checked my emails yesterday and discovered that the wonderful Zrinka Jelic nominated me for a Liebster award! Thank-you Zrinka!! What is a Liebster
Blog award, you say? The Liebster Blog Award is an award given to blogs that have less that
200 followers.
It's a way of generating some love and some traffic for smaller bloggers. Of course there are some other rules:

Each person
must post 11 facts about themselves

Answer 11
questions the tagger has given you and give 11 questions for the people you've
tagged

Choose 11
people and link them in your post

Tell them
you've tagged them

No tag
backs

11 facts about Rosanna Leo:

1. I am a mom of two wonderful sons who drive me crazy and light up my life at the same time!

2. I have had epilepsy since I was 10.

3. When I'm not writing, I work in my local library and love it!

4. I am obsessed with all things paranormal.

5. I love animals and we have a cat named Sweetie (don't laugh).

6. I believe Nutella comes from Heaven and I like a scoop, right out of the jar, once a day.

7. I get peeved when people don't say "bruschetta" correctly.

8. I am still boy crazy after all these years.

9. I need to write romance.

10. A Scottish accent will reduce me to little more than a pile of mush with eyes.

11. I love my life.

Questions for me from Zrinka:

1. What is your sweetest dream?
I had a great one when I was a teenager and in love with Duran Duran. I dreamt the whole world was vampires and gunning for me. Simon le Bon was the head vampire. The dream ended with me running away and Duran Duran chasing me into this house. The last thing I remember was Simon coming for me, confident and sexy. I know, I know...weird.

2. Whose the hunk you'd take with you to the gala?
Well, if hubby couldn't come, I think I might like me some Gerard Butler.

3. E-book or paper-back, which one you prefer?
Both, but for obvious reasons, I'm going to say ebook!! Ha!

4. Chocolate, vanilla or strawberry?
Chocolate or vanilla. NEVER strawberry! That stuff is vile. And Neopolitan ice cream is sent from the devil. It shouldn't exist.

5. Are you an early bird or a night owl?
I've been both and am not quite convinced which one is me yet. Probably early bird.

6. Cookies or cream? Or both?
Where are we putting them? LOL! Give me cream in my coffee, baby!

7. Coffee or tea?
Well....coffee...although I am currently trying to quit it. I should be getting really ornery soon...

8. What's your favourite pass time activity?
Writing. It's my passion and my best hobby. I need to write, as I said earlier. However, when not writing, hubby and I love hiking and travelling.

9. Your dream vacation spot?
London, England. There's so much to do for a history nerd like me.

10. Would you ever go skydiving?
Not in a million years. Terrifying!!! Ack!

11. If you could time travel, would you go into the past or the future?
I would so go to the past, every single time. The future doesn't interest me, at least not in a sci-fi way.

Sunday, 24 June 2012

I have the pleasure of hosting the wonderful Lynn Crain today! Lynn's new sci-fi erotic romance is called The Harvester...and I can't wait to hear more about it! Thanks for joining me, Lynn! The floor is yours!

Blushing
& the Erotic Romance Writer

Everyone knows I’m an
erotic romance writer. I don’t hide the fact at all. If the story calls for
some steamy hot sex, then the story gets that scene. The one thing I do get
reminded of occasionally is the fact I used to be a blush queen growing up.
This was brought home to me when I recently pulled up an article from another
author who talked about her ‘blush-o-meter’ and it reminded me of how I used to
be.

Growing up, it didn’t
take much to get me going. I know I was the only high school senior to be photographed
with the then President Gerald Ford who could compete with the sun. It has it
good and bad points. Still, the story reminded me of my early days as an erotic
romance writer and two specific times when blushing got me a lot of attention.

The first one was when I was asked to bring my very first completed book to a
college gang party. These were the people I had learned to become an adult with
and I had a lot of apprehension. These people had embarrassed me and held me
when I cried or when I was sick. There were many good and bad memories with
these folks.

I told the DH, Gordon, and he convinced me it was all good. But as we got
closer to the party, the more trepidation I was feeling.

Once there, the manuscript was being handed around and then I started getting
comments like, 'great job' and 'I've never know anyone who completed a whole
book before' and then I saw one of my old college boyfriends reading it.

He walked up to me and stated, "You know if you'd done that to me, maybe
we'd still be together."

I could feel my face turning warm and I had to be very careful here. If I said
the wrong thing, he’d think I still liked him or something. "Maybe I would
have if you deserved that type of treatment."

"Gordon must be a very lucky man." He walked away as the DH walked
up.

"What's wrong with him?" DH asks.

"He got to the love scene."

"Oh."

"He said you were a lucky guy."

"He did." DH puffs up and says, "I think I'll go talk to the
guys."

The college girl friends came up. "What's up with the guys? And how about
you…you’re blushing!"

"They're all talking about the love scene.”

“No wonder you’re blushing!"

I looked at them and arched a brow. “Maybe I should remind all of your husbands,
we all went to college together. After all I didn’t win a knockwurst contest.”
Every other woman at the party had a face redder than mine. LOL! Revenge is
soooo sweet!

The next big time that I can remember me really, really blushing was when I
wrote my first BDSM story about six years ago now. It was also the last time
that I can remember me having that particular affliction. I had to do a lot of
what I considered covert research as I prepared to write this story of a
woman's darkest fantasies. Finally, I got the courage to just sit down and get
it done. The whole day, I would write a sentence and get up to pace, wondering
what I was doing since I knew nothing of that world. Still, I plugged away at
it until I eventually got it right. It was the first thing I sold to eXtasy
books. I was really surprised.

But half way into the process, my husband shocked me by showing up in my
office. My face went from zero to RED in the
span of less than 10 seconds.

“Something wrong?”

“No, why are you asking?”

He gives me his quirky smile and says, “There are only a few times I’ve ever
seen you blush in twenty years.”

I sat still. “Really?”

“Yeah. It’s mainly when I caught you doing something you shouldn’t and when
you’re thinking about sex.”

“With an antiquated idea about sex sometimes. If you’re going to really be an
erotic romance writer, you have some changing to do.” He gave me a quick kiss
on the cheek. “I’m sure that practice will help!”

I roll my eyes and tell him nothing is going to happen until I finish this
story.

That very day, my whole attitude changed. I wasn’t ashamed of my writing at
all. It was just that I was brought up in the Bible belt and as anyone who has
grown up there knows, the fear of God and sex can be pounded into you from the
moment you walk. And lordy, the brimstone…LOL! There is absolutely nothing
wrong with sex. It’s a natural thing and we have such a backward sexual outlook
in America that it took some retraining on my part to not let it worry me at
all. Now, I barely bat an eye. There's a private me and a writer me.

I advertise my very sexy books all the time and I do write to every heat level
as the story dictates. I am passionate about all my books as every author
should be. If you’re embarrassed about it, you don’t need to be writing it at
all. I write what I love and nothing compromises that position. Sometimes my
characters want the full Monty and others, they want it very sweet.

Now it’s my DH’s turn to blush every time he drives my car. My license plate
says ERWRTER and he’s been asked many times what it means. I'll show you all a
picture sometime. He tells them the truth…it means…Erotic Romance Writer. The
moment he tells the women, they get a gleam in their eye and say ‘Ah’ while the
men just shake their heads and walk away, knowing they wouldn’t be caught dead
in my car.

Let me know if you’ve
ever had any embarrassing moments in your early days. To the one with the best
story, I’ll give you a copy of my latest book! Good luck everyone!Lynn

Read Lynn Crain’s latest

sci-fi erotic romance

The Harvester

TODAY!!

Logline: Sky Nerezsh, a Harvester of men, leaves
home avoiding a tragic path when a rival comes to claim Earth and the two
Scottish lifemates she’s just discovered.

Premise: Princess Sky Xera Nerezsh came to earth
to avoid the normal succession path to the throne. Being the oldest daughter,
she will be required to murder her mother in order to secure her path to power.
Sky loves her mother and refuses this path, choosing instead to disappear in
the vast reaches of space. When her past collides with her present, she has to
think quick on her feet, claim two men and a whole planet just to avoid the
inevitable: a meeting with her mother. Along the way, she discovers true love
and a burning need to be there for them always. Now if the other Harvesters can
just keep to themselves, they’ll have no problems. But who said true love was
ever easy.

Excerpt: Suddenly one dark haired man was on the
table in front of her, gyrating his sexy hips in her face, his package mere
inches from her mouth. In another life, she would have leaned forward and
planted her lips on his crotch, willing his body to perform. She really should
have been paying more attention to the situation around her instead of wondering
about where Angela had gotten herself.

Leaning down, his breath reminded her of
the sweetgrass that grew on her home planet of Tyrsati, heightening her senses
even more. “Sweetheart, I see how you want me...it’s written all over your
face.” His voice purred in her ear.

Sky gasped and pulled back to get a
better look at the man in front of her. He reminded her of the gods of Vada. He
was tall, well-muscled, dark hair brushing the top of his shoulders and had the
most incredible violet eyes she had ever seen. Guess the optics weren’t wrong. He would fetch an exquisite price
on Texra and her mother would be extremely proud for her acquisition. She shook
her head to clear the cobwebs.

“Nice eyes, sweetie – hang around after
the show – I’ll make it worth your while.” His voice hit a resonance with her
and her whole body flushed. It had been years since she had reacted to any man.
Now her emotions and body betrayed her for an insignificant being on an outer
planet. She shook her head. This planet was no more insignificant than any
other, including her own but she knew if she didn’t get herself under control,
the Harvester in her would take over. Old habits die hard.

“Don’t let his demeanor fool you, luvey.
He just wants to get into your pants.” Another deep voice reverberated close to
her ear.

She glanced over her shoulder and again
her breath was nearly taken away as she looked into the bluest eyes she’d ever
seen in the galaxy bar none. The sky of Octa couldn’t hold a candle to the
color that swirled in their depths.

“Ooo, Jaxon is right about the eyes. Very
cool green.”

“Contacts,” Sky managed to get out for
the second time this evening, her voice low.

“And a sexy voice to boot. Very nice.” He
twirled away to join his companion on stage. He was just as nice looking as the
first guy but just a little shorter. His shiny hair swung around his jaw line
as he moved and her hands ached to run her fingers through it and over his
body.

She sat there stunned as the people at
her table laughed and clapped her on the back as if she’d done some sort of
fantastic feat. While her time on this planet had been very thrilling, in her
old life working for her mother, their performances had to be impeccable or
their fate might be worse than death. She vaguely wondered just how she’d rate
them.

Sky did her best to smile and act as if
what happened was one of the most exciting things in her life when in reality
it brought back some memories she’d rather forget. Folding her hands in front
of her, she closed her eyes and steadied her breathing. She opened her eyes
slow and caught a glimpse of a targeting laser. The light was in a part of the
spectrum that no one of this planet could even see but her optics caught it.

Scanning the crowd, she allowed her eyes
to whirl, not caring who saw. There were not supposed to be any Harvesters on
this world as it had been declared too primitive to even be included in the
Alliance of Planets. She came here because she knew this was the one place her
mother wouldn’t think to look. Now, she knew another Tyrsatian walked the same
world as she did, occupying the very same room.

Maybe it was time to see just what type
of trouble Angela got herself into. Leaning across the table, she quickly gave
Jayne her phone number and said her goodbyes to all the others present. Rising
slowly, she didn’t want to alert the other Harvester but she was just far
enough away and at a weird angle to not see who it might be. Moving quickly to
the back wall, she moved to where she stood way behind the woman but close
enough to see who it was.

Jesata Ardik. Of all the Harvesters to
show up on her new home planet, one of the most relentless in the business had
to land on her new home. This wasn’t going to be easy. She had to delay her
from marking them because once they were marked, it didn’t matter wherever in
the universe they were, they would be considered fugitives until captured and
sold to the highest bidder. Meaning, she wouldn’t be able to get them off world
without the help of her mother.

Lynn Crain has penned over 25 novels inromance in the genres of science fiction,
fantasy and contemporary romance, erotic to tame in nature. She always knew
that writing was her calling even if it took years at other professions to
prove it. She has belonged to EPIC and RWA for more years that she cares to
think about. Currently, she lives in Europe while her husband of nearly 30
years pursues his dream of working internationally. Her state-side home is in
Nevada where family and friends wait patiently for their return. You can find
her hanging out at A Writer In Vienna Blog (www.awriterinvienna.blogspot.com)
and various other places on the net (www.theloglineblog.blogspot.com;
www.twitter.com/oddlynn3;
www.lynncrain.blogspot.com ). Still, the thing she loves most of
all is hearing from her readers at lynncrain@cox.net.

Tuesday, 19 June 2012

Hi all;
I am thrilled to have another wonderful Liquid Silver Books author visiting with me today! Her name is Elle Rush! Help me welcome my fellow Canuck, enjoy her fun interview and read about her amazing new book!

Elle, a few questions so our audience can get to know you better!

1) Did you always want to be an author?If not, what else would you have done?

Always. I’ve worked 20 years in the finance industry but
that has always been my day job.On the
up side, when I become a best-selling author I’ll know where to invest my royalties
and all the right tax moves.

2) What is the strangest job you ever had and why?

I handed out food samples in a grocery store when I was
in high school.Why? I was in
high-school and needed cash.For the
record, it’s much easier to get people to try new soda flavours rather than new
brands of yogurt.

3) What is your favourite book of all time and why?

If I only had one book to read for the rest of my life,
it would be… oh, I am so going to cheat… “The Complete Works of Jane Austen”.
But as much as I love Jane, it wouldn’t be much of a life with only one book.

4) Describe your ideal hero (details please! *wink wink*)

I think the universal qualities are intelligence,
integrity and a sense of humour. A nice
smile is good too. But my guy also needs to have the voice.You know, the
voice. The low, gravelly voice that brings your whole body to attention and
makes you agree no matter what the guy is saying.Oh, yeah, baby, that voice.Accent optional.

5) If you could share a romantic evening with any
character from romance literature (any genre), who would it be and what would
you do to him (ahem! With him)?

I think a date with Clay Bennett (Nalini Singh’s “Mine to
Possess”) would be a fun night: maybe a walk on the beach at sunset, dinner in
Chinatown in San Francisco, and a moonlight stroll through the woods, dark and
deep, with an attentive, attractive man with a tree house.What - you can’t think of anything fun to do
in a tree house?

6) What comes first for you: plot or character?

All my story ideas start with a person in a situation. What
if X happened to Y? From there, I extrapolate until I know everything that led
up to the event that popped into my head, and what happened after.

7) Who is, hands down, the sexiest male actor of all
time?

What is with all the “only one” questions, Rosanna?Variety is the spice of life.Fine, if I can only pick one, right now it
would be Vin Diesel.I may change my
mind by next week.

Again with the one!My favourite romance author is Nalini Singh from New Zealand.I love both her series because of the great
characters, world-building, and locations.My favourite action-adventure writer named Matthew Reilly who is from
Australia. He blows stuff up really
well.My favourite classics author is Jane Austen,
for bringing a now-historical period to life.Go Commonwealth!

10) What is on the horizon for you? Any interesting news
or books we should know about?

My first contemporary “Private Encore” was just released
by Liquid Silver Books and I’m so excited about that I can hardly stand
it.I also have a holiday story out on
submission right now and I’m in the middle of another spicy contemporary
novella.After that, I’ll pick one of
the more than two dozen ideas on my plot bunny list and get to work, but I
think I will be moving out of novellas and into category romances.

Thanks for sharing Elle! You're a good sport!

Elle Rush is a contemporary romance author from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Her first novella "Private Encore" was published by Liquid Silver books. In addition to her love of writing, Elle is also an aspiring gardener. Once she heard that talking to plants helps them grow, she named her new hostas "Manana", "Luego", and "La-Vista". She is currently working on her next two projects.
Follow her on her website at www.ellerush.com or follow her on Twitter at elle_rush.

Last year, jazz singer Eloise Bright walked in—and then out—on her husband when he was about to get even for an imagined indiscretion. By the time security specialist Rick Mundy realized he should have trusted his wife over the tabloids, it was too late to save their marriage. Now Rick has the opportunity to make amends when he’s assigned to protect Eloise from a new wave of aggressive reporters and vicious rumors on the eve of her breakout tour. Not only is Rick fighting for a second chance against stories of Eloise in an affair with her singing partner but Eloise is on the verge of losing her professional reputation before her career even takes off. If they can find the source of the rumors, they could both win. Unfortunately Eloise is only supposed to be in Seattle for a short engagement, which doesn’t leave Rick much time to convince her to give them a private encore.

Monday, 18 June 2012

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming another one of my wonderful Liquid Silver Books fellow authors! Christy Gissendaner, who sometimes writes as Robin Danner, is taking the stage to tell us a little bit about herself and her new ventures. I interviewed her and learned a lot of interesting details....Christian Grey, anyone??

Please welcome Christy!

1) Welcome Christy/Robin! Tell me, did you always want to be an author?If not, what else would you have done?

I’ve always loved to write and I would enter essay
contests and such when I was younger, but what I really wanted to be was a
doctor. I even had the intention of writing for medical journals. I earned a
biology degree, but when I completed my undergraduate work I got burned out. I
actually wrote my first novel during my senior year of college, but it was
several years until I submitted it for publication. Writing was just something
I did for fun. I never thought I would actually publish the romance novels I
wrote for my own enjoyment. I would love to be successful enough to do it
full-time one day though!

2) What is the strangest job you ever had and why?

Hmmm…I really haven’t had a “strange” job. I guess you
could say I was asked to do strange things during my brief stint as a patient
care technician at a hospital. There’s no sense of privacy when you’re helping
bedridden patients, that’s for sure!

3) What is your favourite book of all time and why?

Oh, wow. You probably wouldn’t expect it, but it’s The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter
Straub. I read it when I was a young teenager and it’s stuck with me for years.
It’s so NOT the type of novel I write, but the imagery just captured me. Plus
it was the first of Stephen King’s works that I’d read that didn’t scare me to
death!

Well let’s see…his name is William. Ha, just kidding! No
matter how good my intentions are, I just can’t help but be attracted to dark
haired men. The eye color may be variable, but for me personally it’s green. Of
course everyone enjoys a nice, tall, athletic, personable hero which I’m all
for. But one thing you will catch me mentioning is that my hero is left-handed.
I’m left-handed myself, so I love to throw that in there sometimes.

5) If you could share a romantic evening with any
character from romance literature (any genre), who would it be and what would
you do to him (ahem! With him)?

Oh, this is soooo easy! I’m currently reading the Fifty Shades of Grey series, so it would
totally be Christian Grey. And although I’m sure the…ahem…romantic interlude would be interesting, I would love to shake the
guy and be like, “Come on, dude! Get over it already. Just because you’re
abused doesn’t make you a bad guy.” I know that probably sounds mean, but I’m
not a fan of the self-loathing. He did nothing wrong, so I don’t understand why
he thinks he is unloveable.

6) What comes first for you: plot or character?

Neither actually! It’s usually the title. But most of the
time, I just sit at my computer and start typing. I’m not a plotter at all. I
let the story take me where it wants to. I come up with the characters and the
plot as I go along.

7) Who is, hands down, the sexiest male actor of all
time?

Jonathan Rhys Meyers…I love him! He doesn’t look like my
usual type, but there is just such an aura about him. He is beyond sexy. Now if
you want to know who my weirdest sexy guy is, it’s John Malkovich. I saw him in
The Glass Menagerie and just thought
he was so attractive. While my friends mooned over Nic Cage in Con Air, I was like, “Ooh, look! John
Malkovich!” I’m weird. I know. ; )

8) I choose to overlook your predilection for Mr. Malkovich! How about describing your writing style for us, please.

I guess I’m drawing a blank here. I’m not really sure. I
do love to inject humor into almost all of my works, so I try to write the way
I “talk”. So you may see phrases instead of complete sentences at times.
Probably drives my editors boinkers!

9) Who is your favourite author and why?

Julia Quinn. I’ve been hooked on her since the first book
in the Bridgerton series. Her sense of humor is similar to mine, so I love that
aspect. Plus she doesn’t bog down her readers with information overload.
Sometimes with historicals, I find myself skimming through all the details of
this or that and I end up skipping through most of the book. I don’t have to do
that with Julia. One of my sons is actually named Quinn, I enjoy her books that
much!

10) What is on the horizon for you? Any interesting news or
books we should know about?

At the moment, as Christy, I have submitted two new
contemporaries. One is romantic comedy (which will be a re-release) and the
other contemporary is slightly paranormal. As Robin, I’ve just completed book 1
of a historical series and just started writing book 2. I’ll be submitting book
1 very soon, so keep an eye out. Hopefully I will have good news soon!

Thursday, 14 June 2012

Hi all!
It's a real pleasure for me to welcome Chris
Almeida and Cecilia Aubrey today! They have a couple of amazing books out now that have been getting some stellar reviews. They are here to talk about developing female characters and I can't wait to see what they have to say! Take it away, Chris and Cecilia!

Forging Female Characters

When Cecilia and I sit down to plot, develop characters,
develop plot and GMCs, our focus is not only on the story but on creating
strong, well rounded characters that readers can relate to and also put
themselves in their shoes.

With that in mind, we have almost subconsciously created
female characters who reflect the women of today. They are not meak, they are
not weak. They are strong, opinionated women who can hold their come hell or
high water..

I believe that comes from having strong women who have been
crucial and models in our upbringing. Both our mothers had to raise children on
their own—my mother, a Brazilian, became a widow at 35 and Cecilia’s father was
in the Air Force which left her mom, a Spaniard, on her own to raise three
children during his tours of Vietnam and service abroad.. They both have strong
sense of ethics, honesty, and determination. They both gave us the love and
attention we needed through our lives and forged who we are today.

They both went through rough patches and they overcame them
through sheer strength of character and will power. They were our role models
for life and are reflected in our female characters. Like all of us, they are
fallible. They make mistakes. But they also know when to make the right
decisions and when to fight for what they want.

We write women who, although roughed up by life one way or
another, they find the courage to move on with their lives, to make changes that
set them on the right path. Our message to our readers is simple, they are in
control of their lives even when they think they aren’t.

We hope that readers will take the same lesson from Cassandra,
Jessica, and the many others we pepper throughout our work—take something away
from the story that will push them forward in their lives, give them
inspiration to grab life by the horns. And we hope they enjoy the twists and
turns we throw in their path, knowing they will find ways to turn things around
in their favor. We certainly enjoy making them who they are.

Sláinte!

Chris

BIO

Chris Almeida and Cecilia Aubrey write romantic
suspense under the independent label Éire Publishing. They have published
several short stories and their first novel, COUNTERMEASURE, a sexy romantic
suspense thriller with enough twists and turns to leave you gasping for breath,
was published in January, 2012. The second novel in the series, TO RUSSIA WITH
LOVE, has a scheduled release on July 30. They have also released a spin-off
series of short stories, COUNTERMEASURE: BYTES OF LIFE. The shorts are high-heat
mini stories revolving around the lives of the main characters, Trevor and
Cassandra.

Suspicious and determined never to fall into the love
trap, security specialist Cassandra James takes on a chase to recover files
stolen right out from under her nose. In an effort to prove to her father—also
her boss—that she is a capable woman, she follows the digital trail—a trail
that leads her directly into the arms of Trevor Bauer, an NSA analyst who
appears to have more secrets than she has scars...

Haunted by the mystery surrounding his parents'
disappearance, Trevor Bauer's dreams for his own life have been put on hold.
But being confronted by Cassandra James derails every one of his best laid
plans to avoid a relationship until he can find the closure he desperately
seeks. When he accepts her request for help in recovering the files she's hunting,
they embark on an adventure that takes them across the ocean and into a world
of intrigue and violence. As things between them begin to heat up, Trevor
realizes that, if he is ever to win Cassandra's heart and the future he craves,
he has no choice but to reveal all his secrets.

It’s been almost a year since Trevor and Cassandra’s brush
with a psychotic killer in COUNTERMEASURE, and they are knee-deep in new cases.
When George stumbles across a new piece of information on Trevor’s parents’
case, they end up following a digital trail to Saint Petersburg.

While infiltrating a Russia Mafia’s stronghold to destroy a
piece of software that could change the face of the World Financial Market,
they find themselves in hotter water than they bargained for—a dangerous game
of cat-and-mouse steeped in a world of betrayal, hidden identities, and secret
agendas….

Back in Ireland, Cassandra’s best friend Jessica is
determined to find the key to unlock the heart of Stephan, the man she
loves—but little does she know that her greatest obstacle will be Stephan
himself….

Wednesday, 6 June 2012

My friend Juliet Chastain, fresh off the release of For the Love of a Gypsy Lass, has come back to tell us about her new release The Gypsy and the Widow! And there's nothing wrong with more sexy Gypsies! Read on for more details on this steamy new book!

Will widowed Joanna Daniels choose a life of
privilege with a wealthy lord or will she follow her heart and run away with
the Gypsy laborer she loves?

Joanna Daniels is a widow who wants a father for her
son. Tem Lovell is a widower hoping to find a mother for his children. They are
perfect for each other except for one thing: she's a destitute English
gentlewoman who is being courted by a wealthy lord, while Tem is a Gypsy
laborer who lives hand-to-mouth.

As the ardor she shares with Tem grows stronger,
Joanna is forced to decide between the security the cold and controlling lord
can provide and the uncertainty of the open road coupled with the passionate
love Tem feels for her—that is, if Tem is willing to take an English
gentlewoman as his bride.

Here's an excerpt:

He lifted her as though she weighed no more than a small
child and she twined her arms about his neck. He looked down at her and he
moved as though to kiss her—oh God, how she wanted him to do so. But he pulled
back, shaking his head slightly and the moment passed. He carried her to the
door of her house, which he opened with one hand and brought her inside.

The door closed behind them, and Joanna reached up and
brought his head down so his lips met her own.

Tem felt his blood heat as their lips touched. He had
dreamed of this, but always believed it could be nothing but a dream. Could it
be that she wanted him as he wanted her—or was she a wanton as his fellows had
suggested?

He pulled his head back and studied her face. His very
heart and soul cried out for her as much as his body, but he would not be a
plaything, a casual amusement for a Gadji. He placed her gently on a
sofa and knelt beside her as she reclined against the pillows. Her amber eyes and
black lashes stood out against her milky pallor and some of her deep golden
hair had escaped its tie and curled against her neck.

She reached out
and took his hand. A flush crept into her cheeks. "Do you not want to kiss
me?" He thought her voice shook slightly.

He could not keep himself from bringing her hand to his
cheek for an instant, although he knew he should not. "I do not make love
with every woman who wishes it, not even when I myself wish it. "

"Do you wish to make love to me?"

"With all my heart I do, but there is no future for
us and I care far more for you already than I should."

She ran her fingers softly, tantalizingly, through his
hair. "And I feel the same for you. I—I think of you so often. I so often
have dreamed that you would touch me or kiss me. I long for it." She
lowered her eyes as the flush on her cheeks turned darker and spread across her
face, her neck. "We would harm no one."

He frowned and released her hand. "No one except
ourselves, if indeed you feel as I do. I am already pained that I shall have to
leave in a few days when our work is done here, perhaps sooner if Sir Edward
does not pay as agreed. If you and I do what we wish to do, the pain of parting
will be worse."

"I don't care," she cried. "I would
willingly suffer later if that is the price I must pay."

Her lower lip trembled, and she bit it as though to
still it. He could resist no longer, and he brought his lips hard against hers,
his arms tight around her. He felt as though the floodgates controlling his
pent-up desire for Joanna opened, and he drowned in his passion for her. He
wanted nothing but to kiss her, to caress her, to love her in every way a man
can love a woman.

Can't wait for the release of The Gypsy and the Widow? You can read
other short 99¢ books in the Gypsy Lovers series: A Proper Lady's Gypsy Lover and For
Love of a Gypsy Lass are available now atBreathlessPress, Amazon,etc.